Lacoste Sportswear.
French sportswear company
Lacoste's seminal fashion impact rests on the cotton knit polo tennis shirt lacoste with alligator symbol
as Lacoste logo developed in the 1920s by Jean Rene Lacoste. Lacoste, a popular French tennis player in a
sports mad and style conscious era, was nicknamed "Le Crocodile" for his aggressive play and
long nose. Then, spectators and fashion editors eagerly noted
what sports
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stars and celebrities wore to and from the matches.
On the courts players wore the unexciting standard tennis whites
of flannel trousers and woven buttoned shirts with their long sleeve polo shirts rolled up.
Lacoste challenged this traditional uniform by playing in
shortsleeve knit tennis polo shirt lacoste with a
crocodile logo monogrammed on them with lacoste shorts as
lacoste clothing for tennis. As Lacoste men, he designed his shirts for comfort
and good looks during the
rigors of the court. The short cuffed sleeve ended the problem of
sleeves rolling down.
The soft turned down collar loosened easily via the buttoned placket. The pullover cotton
knit breathed, while the longer shirt tail prevented the shirt from pulling out.
Today, Lacoste sport include shoes and athletic lacoste footwear
like Lacoste trainers and Lacoste sneakers,
basket lacoste,
lacoste footwear athletic for tennis and golf, bags with Lacoste shoes,
athletic lacoste footwear for kids,
lacoste perfume and lacoste cologne pour homme lacoste cologne in fragrances, lacoste watch and watches,
in clothing line lacoste jeans, lacoste tennis polo shirt, lacoste polo shirts, caps and lacoste hats,
jogging lacoste with large lacoste backpack and basket lacoste.
Since 1929, the lacoste shirt tennis polo has
become so popular that it has
become one of the standard
categories of clothing. Virtually
every major clothier makes some
version or variation of
Lacoste polo tennis shirt. It is today worn by
both men and women in
numerous non athletic contexts.
Notably, tennis lacoste mens polo shirts are worn by
many semi professional and retail
workers in settings where t shirts
are not acceptable but formal
business attire is not required. In
contemporary Western fashion,
tennis shirts are considered more
casual than woven button down
shirts while still being slightly
dressy.
Lemaire introduced changes to the basic collection such as a stretch polo
that fits closer to the body and a five button version for
women. He also launched a high end Club line with a more discreet crocodile,
either silver or embroidered, and tony fabrics such
as tweed and cashmere. Next spring, he will unveil a younger, more
urban Red collection. Meanwhile, he has also tweaked classic styles and details:
Polo dresses may be worn short or long; crocodile
logos may be large, small or absent altogether.
Not content merely to introduce the style for his own use, Lacoste turned to producing
and marketing them, following his retirement in the early 1930s. The shirts he commissioned
from friends in the textile industry included an embroidered crocodile on the left breast
at a time when few clothes had symbols. Lacoste's renown and photos of Riviera and
Palm Beach notables in this type of shirt popularized the style for recreational wear,
especially in the United States.
While white lacoste tennis polo shirt remained traditional on tennis courts in Lacoste tennis,
the Lacoste shirt went Technicolor on
the American golf links in the 1950s using other colors like red polo shirts, pink, blue.
The same characteristics that made it comfortable
for tennis, especially the longer shirt tail, made it the sought after style. Licensed
to American manufacturer David Crystal, Inc., Lacoste T Shirt, the crocodile swam or colored pique knit
versions of the original model. Munsingwear came out with a comparable style, dubbed the
Grand Slam golf shirt.
Lacoste essential items for sport men and lacoste women are hats and lacoste cap ; lacoste wallet,
handbag lacoste bags and bag lacoste backpack ; sneakers, trainers, shoes lacoste footwear athletic;
lacoste sunglasses ; lacoste tracksuit and tracksuits,
a men lacoste cologne pour homme fragrance,
lacoste polo women lacoste jacket, jeans, mens lacoste polo jumper,
jogging lacoste clothing, womens polo shirts, shorts and sweater
in lacoste sweaters ;
As memories of Rene Lacoste faded, the crocodile trademark was increasingly referred
to as an "alligator." The alligator symbol logo lacoste, like the country clubs at which it was
seen, acquired an upscale reputation. David Crystal further enhanced this image by melding
the Lacoste and Izod names. Izod derived from a British tailor who outfitted the British
Royal Family. To update and increase its appeal in the late 1960s, Crystal made the shirt
in double polo knit easy care Dacron polyester but cotton knit polo had perennial appeal. The colors
followed current fashion's whimsy, including the worn and faded look for clothing lacoste.
As the shirt settled
into an enduring style for sport and casual wear, other companies, including US mass merchandiser
Sears, Roebuck, and Co., brought out their own variations with two to four button plackets
and their own symbols. Ralph Lauren's polos shirt is a notable successful upscale rendition.
Whether it be yellow polo shirts, a lacoste athletic footwear shoe,
a t shirts or boys polo shirts, lacoste tracksuits, a black canvas lacoste large backpack,
a perfume lacoste bag a jacket, a jumper, lacoste women polo shirts lacoste caps and a lacoste hat,
a pink tennis dress, a blue lacoste polo shirt, girls polo shirts, lacoste handbags, watch and
lacoste watches, jeans, sunglasses and hats, a large backpack lacoste,
a lacoste Pour Homme cologne spray for men,
a lacoste golf athletic footwear, womens polo shirts, a jogging lacoste sweater, a lacoste boots deal comes with
some assurance that it will be fashionable and appropriate for a generation.
The preppy look of the 1970s ignited the alligator shirt's popularity and sales and gave
it cachet among men, teenagers, and children. They wore the shirt differently shirt
tails were out and the ribbed collars open and flipped up. In the 1980s, collars went
back down and all buttons were buttoned. Women sported feminine versions or wore their partner's.
The alligator appeared on related garments with the name Izod Lacoste. At times the symbol was
revamped or removed. The shirt, or a facsimile, was a staple of the American middle class wardrobe.
The phrase "Lacoste shirt" came to be a generic alternative term for a tennis lacoste or lacoste polos style shirt.
Ultimately the shirt and its trademark were hurt by overmarketing, copies, and caricature in the
form of a satiric upside down "dead alligator" symbol. In recent years, as the license for making
Lacoste brand garments bounced from corporation to corporation, the licensees worked to return
the shirt to its former successful niche. The current producer has returned to basics: a
well made cotton polo shirt pique shift for the upscale market. After 60 years and near extinction,
Jean Rene Lacoste's crocodile is returning to the elite waters that spawned it.
-Debra Regan Cleveland
Extract from “Contemporary Fashion”, written by Richard Martin. Detroit: St. James Press, 1995.
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